Duke Energy appeals NC rejection of secrecy claims

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Duke Energy is going to court to keep from divulging more than 600 pages of internal documents and emails that North Carolina utilities regulators determined were wrongly claimed as trade secrets.

The country's largest electric company said Tuesday that it wants to keep confidential all documents that divulge business plans, strategies, discussion of its nuclear power plants and personnel matters.

Utilities regulators and North Carolina's attorney general are investigating Duke Energy over its surprise ouster of Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson, who had been expected to take over the combined company.

Duke Energy was ordered to turn over internal documents dealing with the ouster. But the utility marked 5,000 pages as confidential and containing trade secrets. The commission said only 13 percent of the documents contained trade secrets.